NEW BEDFORD – I spent the past weekend in New Bedford. It was a trip back to the past in the very best sense: energizing, offering perspective and an optimistic look to the future.

It was a great time to be there, with perfect weather after the July 4 deluge. I took advantage of two full days of the 19th annual New Bedford Folk Festival, plus a rare chance to go aboard the world’s last wooden whaleship, the Charles W. Morgan, built in 1841 in New Bedford.

The family-oriented festival was in the downtown area, by the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, and it featured 70 talented performers from across the country.

Some are already very well-known, renowned. Others are “emerging,” starting out or building their careers. It was fun to see how happy they were to see one another, to share skills and insights, to join in, play along or improvise together at workshops.

I heard so much really fine music. One of the best parts also was the spirit. There were young people all around, and also lots of silver-haired performers and music lovers. Just about everyone had a relaxed way – unhurried, congenial, courteous, and pleased to sing along if invited.

Sharing a folksingers/songwriters workshop Sunday with John Gorka, Chris Smither and Kate Campbell, Cliff Eberhart said, “This is the music of life. And you almost have to seek it out now. In the realm of my life, this has been a really good hour.”

There were seven venues, within walking distance, some smaller and intimate, like the Custom House Park Stage, and then the much larger Zeiterion Performing Arts Center, a beautifully restored vaudeville era theater.

I sought out Quincy’s Chris Pahud. Friends had told me of his appeal, and his local roots, deep voice and laid-back personality were a delight. Pahud, 63, a bass baritone, grew up in Needham and began singing in high school. His biggest influence was the late Fred Neil. He works at UMass-Boston in the IT/Audio Visual Department, and in recent years has been bringing his music to wider audiences. “I’m more of an interpreter of others songs,” he said. He sings for a half hour every day, often after he walks Wollaston Beach before work.

I also loved seeing the exuberant and creative Poor Old Shine again. They were in ‘The Heart of Robin Hood’ this winter at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge. (This Saturday, they will change their name to Parsonsfield, after a small town in Maine where they cut their first CD.)

Sunday morning I went aboard The Charles W. Morgan on the final day of its visit to New Bedford, having sailed up from Mystic Seaport. The Morgan whaled for 80 years and is considered “a living example of New Bedford's craftsmanship and seafaring history,” said to have “endured everything the sea could bring against her.”

Page 2 of 2 - Walking through her, going below deck, hearing how whale blubber was turned into oil right there on deck, and seeing how the crew, mostly young people highly skilled and licensed in tall ship operations, still stay there – somehow it put today’s technology in a different perspective.

The Morgan, on a 12-week journey to seven ports-of-call, is scheduled to depart New Bedford Tuesday for the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay and depending on tides, sail through the Cape Cod Canal on Wednesday, for Provincetown. The canal is marking its 100th anniversary this year. There will be no visitor access to the ship in Provincetown.

But she will be open for the public to board at the Boston National Historical Park at the Charlestown Navy Yard from July 18-22, berthed next to the USS Constitution. (Check the ship website for the final schedule.)

When life moves along a bit too fast at times, with all its social media, a shared musical weekend along with a sense of history can restore balance.

Reach Sue Scheible at scheible@ledger.com, 617-786-7044, or The Patriot Ledger, P.O. Box 699159, Quincy 02269-9159. Read her Good Age blog on our website. Follow her on Twitter @ sues_ledger.